Page 184 of Chasing Ruin
What the hell is wrong with me?
But it’s too late to back out and not see them. I’m already out the door, my feet mechanically moving me toward the hall.
Shit.Shit, shit, shit.
Laughter drifts from the bar area, light and easy. I almost hope they don’t notice me—but of course, Misty looks up first.
“Charlotte!” Her face lights up as she waves me over, and the stupidly polite part of me just obeys.
I walk in.
Ol’ Ladies are scattered around, kids running wild near the open backyard door. It’s calm. Domestic. Almost normal.
The club girls are in casual clothes—T-shirts, shorts. Daytime mode.
“Hey,” I say, slipping into their circle.
“How are you feeling?” Pearl asks gently. “Did you eat?”
Instantly, Isabelle flashes through my mind, and my chest tightens.
I didn’t even get to properly talk to her before she left. She’d only come back for a few days last week to help Healer, since he was short staffed at the clinic. Then she was gone again.
“Yeah, I ate,” I nod quickly, awkwardly pointing toward my room. “In my…”
Smooth, Charlotte.
“You want juice?” Misty asks, already pouring me a glass.
I nod, offering a small smile. “Thanks.”
DeeDee doesn’t say anything. She just watches me. Quiet. Observant. Not hostile but not exactly warm either.
Guilt settles heavy in my gut. Because I’ve been avoiding them ever since I came back. All of them.
The only people I’ve really spent time with since I got back were Isabelle and Misty. Mostly because they shared a room and they were close.
Now I’m standing here, realizing just how obvious that probably is.
Chagrined, I find my gaze darting around the hall. Staring at the Ol’ Ladies whose attention I seem to have captured somehow.
“Did you wanna go hang out with them?” DeeDee finally opens her mouth. Her voice clipped, almost annoyed.
“What—no!” I blurt out. “I just… now that things have settled, it’s all a little awkward.”
“Why?” she asks, placing her elbow on the bar counter as she shrugs. “You used to hang out with us all the time before. What changed?”
“DeeDee,” Misty snaps at her. But the words are already out and hanging heavily between us.
“I didn’t, though,” I say curtly. “Not all the time. I hung out with Glory, didn’t I?” The moment her name slips out, it’s almost as if the temperature around us drops a few degrees.
I’ve heard brothers curse out her name. The Ol’ Ladies magnanimously claiming how they ‘always knew she was bad news.’
But never did I ever hear the club girls discussing one of their own. Granted, it’s been over two years. But I can see the second their expressions shift to something uncomfortable. Almost foul.
I guess they’ve managed to keep Glory’s name out of their mouths this whole time.
May the bitch’s soul—
